Method and apparatus for warning a mobile user approaching a boundary of an area of interest

ABSTRACT

A mobile wireless system ( 10 ) includes a transmitter such as a satellite ( 18 ) that broadcasts wireless signals such as boundaries for specific areas to a mobile receiving device ( 22 ). Mobile receiving device ( 22 ) may include an antenna ( 26 ) and a mobile receiving device ( 28 ). A locating receiver ( 50 ) is used to generate locating signals so that a determination may be made to the location of the mobile receiving device. When the mobile receiving device ( 28 ) approaches the boundary of the designated marketing area, a warning is generated.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a mobile receiving device,and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for controlling thedisplayed information when a mobile receiving device travels near aboundary of an area of interest such as a designated marketing area.

BACKGROUND

Satellite television has become increasingly popular due to its widevariety of programming. Entertainment in automobiles such as DVD playershas also become increasingly popular. It would be desirable to provide asatellite television system for a vehicle so that the wide variety ofprogramming may be enjoyed by the rear passengers.

Federal regulations have specific boundaries enclosing specific areasfor which satellite systems are allowed to display rebroadcast localchannels. A satellite system located within one boundary may onlydisplay video for all channels associated with that region. Currentsatellite systems do not include a means for determining a location.

The specific areas are maybe referred to as designated marketing areasdefined by land within the United States. Other countries may havesimilar areas. Therefore, many bodies of water are outside of amarketing area. That is, large bodies of water such as large lakes, baysand bridges over them may fall outside the marketing area. Mobilereceiving devices would thus be restricted from receiving localprogramming even though other services are available from that marketingarea.

In certain circumstances, the route chosen by a mobile device may becontrolled. For example, a fishing boat could choose a differentlocation. Various programming may be available only from one designatedmarketing area and black out in another designated marketing area.Therefore a fishing boat could choose one area over another in order tomaintain reception of certain programming.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides methods of operating a mobile device thattakes into consideration the location of the mobile receiving devicerelative to a designated marketing area.

In one aspect of the invention, a method of operating a mobile deviceincludes determining a location of the mobile device and determining anarea of interest fixed on the surface of the earth in response to thelocation. The area of interest has a boundary. The method furtherincludes broadcasting wireless signals having location specificinformation therein, receiving the wireless signals at the mobiledevice, utilizing the wireless signals corresponding to the area ofinterest, and generating a warning as the mobile device approaches theboundary.

In a further aspect of the invention, a method of operating a mobiledevice includes determining a signal strength of a satellite beam,comparing the signal strength to a threshold and generating a warningwhen the signal strength is below a threshold.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a system includes a display anda controller coupled to the GPS receiver. The controller determines alocation of the mobile device and determines a designated marketing areafixed on the surface of the earth in response to the location. Thedesignated marketing area has a boundary. The controller receives thewireless signals and displays the wireless signals corresponding to thedesignated marketing area. When the mobile receiver approaches theboundary of the designated marketing area, it generates a warning

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the audible, visual or both typesof warnings may be generated. The system may provide various types ofwarning depending on the proximity to the boundary.

Other advantages and features of the present invention will becomeapparent when viewed in light of the detailed description of thepreferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the attacheddrawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system level view of a satellite broadcasting systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagrammatic view of a vehicle having a receivingsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagrammatic view of the various logic of the antennaand the set top mobile receiving unit.

FIG. 4 is an example of various combinations of regions that can bedescribed using polygons according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating one method for operating the presentinvention.

FIGS. 6A-6E are a top view of various polygons for use in a pointinclusion detection algorithm.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a point inclusion detectionalgorithm.

FIG. 8 is a top view of three adjacent polygonal direct marketing areas.

FIG. 9 is a top view of polygonal region A of FIG. 8 with a tableidentifying the corner points.

FIG. 10 is a topographic view of a portion of the earth having twodesignated marketing areas and a receiving device therein.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of the disclosure forextending the designated marketing area.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of the disclosure fordetermining a designated marketing area.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a third embodiment for determining adesignated marketing area.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a display with an on screen.

FIG. 15 is a topographic view of a satellite beam relative to an area ofinterest.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a method of determining an approachingboundary.

FIG. 17 is a high level flowchart of a method of determining anapproaching edge of a satellite beam.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following figures the same reference numerals will be used forthe same views. The following figures are described with respect to amobile satellite television system. However, those skilled in the artwill recognize the teachings of the present invention may be applied tovarious types of mobile reception including land-based type systems.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a satellite television broadcasting system 10is illustrated. The satellite television broadcasting system 10 includesa network operations center 12 that generates wireless signals through atransmitting antenna 14 which are received by a receiving antenna 16 ofa spaced-based system such as a satellite 18. The wireless signals, forexample, may be digital. As will be described below, the wirelesssignals may be entertainment content or boundary point data for areas ofinterest such as designated marketing areas. Areas of interest may alsoinclude traffic, weather, hazardous material warning areas, advertisingmarketing area near a particular store or region or other types ofareas. A transmitting antenna 20 generates signals directed to variousreceiving systems including stationary systems such as those in the homeas well as mobile receiving systems 22. The wireless signals may havevarious types of information associated with them including locationinformation. The wireless signals may also have various video and audioinformation associated therewith. As illustrated, the mobile receivingsystem 22 may be disposed within an automotive vehicle 24. The vehiclemay be various types of vehicles including a boat, ship, train, plane orother vehicles. A receiving antenna 26 receives the wireless signalsfrom the satellite 18 and processes the signals in a mobile receivingunit 28. The mobile receiving unit 28 will be further described below.

The system to may also receive location signals from a GPS system 30that includes a first satellite 32A and a second satellite 32B. Althoughonly two satellites are shown, a typical GPS system includes severalsatellites, several of which may be in view at any particular time.Triangulation techniques may be used to determine the elevation,latitude and longitude of the system. A locating system may also includecellular towers 34A and 34B that may be used by the mobile receivingsystem 22 to determine a location. The towers may be cellular phone,radio or TV towers. Cellular phones typically include a GPS locatingsystem. As the vehicle 24 moves about, the exact coordinates in latitudeand longitude may be used to determine the proper area of interest suchas a designated marketing area which will control the mobile deviceschoices for local television and such broadcast data.

The system may also receive boundary information such as boundary pointsof designated marketing area polygons from the terrestrial-based systemsuch as the cellular towers 34A and 34B. In addition, the satellites mayalso be replaced with stratospheric platforms 33 for transmitting thedesignated marketing areas to the mobile device. Stratospheric platformsare manned or unmanned airplanes, airships, or the like that fly abovecommercial airspace. It is envisioned that stratospheric platforms mayfly at altitudes between 60,000 and 100,000 feet from the surface of theearth. Thus, the stratospheric platforms are in a significantly lowerposition than even low earth orbit satellites.

The present invention may also be used for displaying various wirelessinformation on a personal mobile device 36 such as a laptop computer 38,a portable television receiver or a personal digital assistant 39, and acellular telephone 40. It should be noted that these devices and theautomotive-based devices may also receive wireless signals havingvarious types of information associated therewith from the cellulartowers 34A and 34B. Other types of information may be broadcast fromother types of broadcasting areas such as an antenna 42 on a building44. The building 44 may be various types of buildings such as a storeand the wireless information transmitted from the antenna 42 may beadvertising information. All of the wireless signals preferably includelocation information transmitted therewith. As will be described below,the information may be coded digitally into the signals. Thus, byreviewing the location information, signals appropriate for the locationof the mobile devices may be displayed on the various devices. This willbe further described below.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a receiving unit 22 is illustrated in furtherdetail. Antenna 26 may be various types of antennas including a rotatingantenna which is used to track the relative movement of the satellite orother transponding device with respect to the vehicle. The antenna 26may be a single antenna used for satellite television reception, or anumber of antennas such as one for receiving television signals and onecoupled to a location receiver 50 such as GPS receiver. The antenna 26may also be an electronic antenna.

The mobile receiving unit 28 is coupled to antenna 26. The mobilereceiving unit 28 may also include a location receiver 52 integratedtherein. The location receiver 52 may be a GPS receiver. In a preferredembodiment, only one location receiver 50, 52 may be provided in thesystem. However, the location receiver 50, 52 may be part of the vehicle24 or may be part of the mobile receiving system 22, 36. The controller60 may be coupled directly to GPS receiver 52 and/or GPS receiver 50.The mobile receiving unit 28 includes a display 54. The display 54 maybe incorporated into the device 36 or within the vehicle 24.

A controller 60 that is microprocessor-based may be used to control thevarious functions of the receiving unit 28. Such functions includeacting as a tuner, receiver, decoder, buffer and other functions. Thecontroller may be similar to that found in current DIRECTV® receivingunits which employ a chip-based multifunctional controller. Thecontroller 60 may include or be coupled to a memory 62. Memory 62 may beused to store the boundaries of various areas of interest received fromthe antenna as broadcast by one of the devices 32, 33 or 34 describedabove. An area of interest is a fixed geographic or cartographic areabounded by a closed shape such as a polygon, circle, curved or straightline segments, or the like. The fixed area or closed shape has outerboundaries that do not move on the surface of the earth. As will beshown below, areas may be excluded (island-like) within a closed shape.Although the areas are fixed, they may be, from time to time,redetermined and rebroadcast to the mobile device for usage. A keyfeature is that as the vehicle or mobile device moves, the area ofinterest remains fixed on the surface of the earth and thus the devicemay enter into another area of interest. Boundaries of certain areas ofinterest such as a designated marketing area (DMA) may be defined byNielsen Media Research, Inc. of New York, N.Y. and may be pre-programmedinto the memory 62 as a number of polygons wherein each point of eachside is defined in cartographic coordinates of longitude and latitudeand fractions of degrees. As will be described below the polygons may beformed of corners whose latitude and longitude are stored within thememory.

The location receiver 52 is capable of providing latitude and longitudeto the controller 60. The controller 60 may be used to compare thelocation signals from the location receiver 50, 52 to the boundaries ofthe areas of interest such that the mobile device can determine whichareas of interest it is within and which areas of interest it is notwithin. From this determination it can control IRD behavior such asallowing or disallowing display of certain audio or video channels. Oneapplication is to broadcast areas of interest that represent designatedmarketing areas to determine which designated marketing area the mobiledevice is within and which area it is not within, which signals thesystem should be receiving. These signals may coincide with orcoordinate to the local broadcasting signals for the specific designatedmarketing area. It should be noted that more than one designatedmarketing area may be provided for a particular area. That is, adjacentareas may also be authorized for viewing. Various fringe regions may beused around a particular designated marketing area to provide hysteresisfor the system. This function will be further described below.

The controller 60 may also be coupled to a user interface 64. Userinterface 64 may be various types of user interfaces such as a keyboard,push buttons, a touch screen, a voice activated interface, or the like.User interface 64 may be used to select a channel, select variousinformation, change the volume, change the display appearance, or otherfunctions. The user interface 64 is illustrated as part of the mobilereceiving unit. However, should the unit be incorporated into a vehicle,the user interface 64 may be located external to the mobile receivingunit such as dial buttons, voice activated system, or the likeincorporated into the vehicle and interface with the mobile receivingunit.

An access card 66 may also be incorporated into the mobile receivingunit. Access cards such as conditional access module (CAM) cards aretypically found in DIRECTV® receiving units. The access card 66 mayprovide conditional access to various channels and wireless signalsgenerated by the system. Not having an access card or not having anup-to-date access card 66 may prevent the user from receiving ordisplaying various wireless content from the system.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagrammatic view of the mobilereceiving unit 28 and the antenna 26 is illustrated. The boxes hererepresent the software logic that may be used to implement theinvention. Various information may be associated with the antenna 26.The antenna 26 may include a pointing algorithm 70 therein. The pointingalgorithm 70 may receive information from gyros in the antenna and beprovided as gyro data 72. GPS data 74 may be provided from the GPS orlocation receiver 50, 52 illustrated above in FIG. 2. Other informationmay be provided from the mobile receiving unit such as channel tuninginformation and the like.

The antenna may also be used to receive boundary data 75 from thevarious sources described above. The boundary data may be received froma satellite, a terrestrial-based system, or a stratospheric platform.The boundary data 75 is stored within the memory 90. The boundary datamay include many forms including equations for line segments, corners ofintersections of line segments in latitude and longitude, or otherinformation defining the boundaries of the designated marketing areas.

The mobile receiving unit 28 may include an antenna interface 76 that isused to communicate with the antenna. The antenna interface 76 formatsthe signals from the mobile receiving unit. For example, various signallevel data such as the channel tuning information may be provided. Datafrom the user interface 64 and the conditional access card 66 may beused by the channel rendering and authentication logic 80. The channelrendering and authentication logic 80 may authorize the particular userbased upon the conditional access card. Information entered from theuser interface such as a password may also be used in the authenticationlogic. Various methods for authentication are well known in the art. Thechannel rendering portion of the channel rendering and authenticationlogic 80 receives information from the user interface 64 as to whichwireless signals the user would like to receive. The channel renderingand authentication logic 80 generates signals that are provided to thechannel tuning logic 82. The channel tuning logic 82 provides channeltuning information based upon the channel rendering information. Thechannel tuning logic 82 may include a receiver and a decoder used forreceiving and decoding the appropriate channels. The channel tuninglogic may provide information to the antenna interface 76 such as thedirection of the signal or satellite that contains the particularchannel that is desired. This information may be used by the pointingalgorithm 70 to rotate the antenna in the appropriate direction.

The controller may also include receiving logic 86. The receiving logic86 may provide information to the channel rendering logic as to theparticular region that the antenna or the mobile receiving unit islocated. The region logic 86 may be coupled to the GPS data interface88. The GPS data interface 88 provides GPS information to the regionlogic so that appropriate signals may be received or displayed.

One use of the receiving logic 86 is that based upon the GPS signals,the location of the receiving unit may be selected. The receiving logic86 may then look up in a geographic polygon or location database 90which designated marketing area the receiving device is located. Fromthis information the appropriate geographically specific data such aslocal broadcast television channels may be selected. The database 90 mayconsist of polygon boundary information used to define the marketingareas. The database 90 may also include other information such as zipcode information or other ranges of data used for comparison with thesignals. As will be evident to those skilled in the art, the wirelesssignals may be received with various location data used to identify thelocation appropriate for the signal to be displayed in. For example, thedata may include information such as that the particular signal may be alocal broadcast from the Washington, D.C. area, whereas other signalsmay indicate local broadcasting from the Baltimore area. When thevehicle is in the proper location, the proper signal may be displayed onthe mobile device.

The location information may be provided in various portions of thesignal. If the signal is an all digital signal the location informationmay be provided in a preamble of the information packet. If the signalis an analog signal the location data may be included in a verticalblanking interval of an analog television signal or as unused bandwidthof a digital television signal. In a purely analog signal, the locationdata may be superimposed digitally on the analog signal.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an example of a complex fixed designatedmarketing area on the surface of the earth is shown. A polygon having ID10 and an assigned market area value of 1 is shown as area 90. Area 92corresponds to a polygon ID of 11 and an assigned market ID value of 2.Polygon 94 is also of market area 1 and has a polygon ID of 12. Itshould be noted that each of the polygons are closed polygons. It shouldalso be noted that there is no overlap between Area 92 and Area 90 suchthat Area 92 is an island inside Area 90. Area 90 taken by itselfcontains a hole the shape of Area 92. One method for determiningboundaries of a polygon as a set of longitude and latitude points is setforth as:

typedef struct {    polygon id    number of polygon points    for (i =0; i < number of market areas in object; i++) {    latitude degreesvalue    latitude 1/1000 minutes value    longitude degrees value   longitude 1/1000 minutes value } POLYGON_T;

The unique polygon ID may be used in a data structure such that thedesignated marketing area can be a set of unjoined polygons as well asexcluded regions as set forth in:

typedef struct {    DMA id    length of DMA    number of includedregions    for (i = 0; 1 < number of included regions; i++) {      polygon id    }    number of excluded regions    for (i = 0; i<number of excluded regions; i ++) {       polygon id } DMA T:

A representation of the designated marketing area 1 may be illustratedin code as:

DMA id  1 number of included regions  2   polygon id 10   polygon id 12number of excluded regions  1   polygon id 11

Referring now to FIG. 5, a method for operating a televisionbroadcasting system is illustrated. In step 96 the boundary data for thedesignated marketing area is broadcast by one of the types of devicesdescribed above such as a satellite, a terrestrial-based antenna, acellular tower, or stratospheric platform. In step 98 the boundaryinformation is received at the mobile device. In step 99 the boundarydata is stored in the memory of the mobile device.

In step 100, the system or mobile device receives location signals. Thereceiver location is determined from the location signals in step 102.As mentioned above, the location signals may use GPS satellites orcellular telephone systems for determining the exact longitude andlatitude down to an acceptable limit to determine the location of themobile receiving device.

In step 104, the designated marketing area for the receiver location isdetermined. As mentioned above, various polygons or the like may bestored in the memory of the receiving device so that the particulardesignated marketing area at that moment in time for the position of themobile receiving device may be determined. A lookup table forcoordinates may be set forth or polygonal areas may be set forth todetermine in which designated marketing area the mobile receiving deviceis located. If the system is not used for television signals, this stepmay be optional. Determining inclusion within a designated marketingarea is set forth in FIG. 7.

In step 106, the controller of the system selects the particular localchannel based upon the determination of the designated marketing area instep 84. Of course, some hysteresis may be accounted for in this method.

Referring now to FIGS. 6A-6D, various irregular shaped closed polygonsare illustrated. The mobile device is located at the respective point110A-110D in each of the various figures, respectively. The polygonalshapes 112A-112E are shown as irregular shapes. When the system isoperated, it is not known whether the mobile device is located within oroutside of the boundaries. One method for determining this is using apoint inclusion detection algorithm. A line is arbitrarily drawn in adirection from the mobile device or point 110 in each of the figures.This is performed using a raycasting technique. In the raycasting thenumber of intersections with a line is determined. Although in FIG. 6horizontal lines are shown, various other directions may be drawn.

In FIG. 6A, the number of intersections between the point 110A and thepolygon is one. Therefore, any odd numbered amounts correspond to themobile device being within the polygon.

Referring now to FIG. 6B, four intersections of the line from point 90Bis illustrated. Thus, a count of the number of intersections is four andthus the point is outside the polygon.

In FIG. 6C, three intersection points are counted. Therefore, the point90C is within the designated marketing area.

In FIG. 6D, the points of the polygon are on the GPS points line. Inthis case, all the polygon points should be ignored as intersections andonly when the polygon's points have crossed the GPS line should anintersection be counted. In this case, there is just one intersectionand the GPS point is therefore inside the polygon because of the oddnumber.

In summary, an odd number of intersections indicates that a point iswithin a polygon. An even number of intersections indicates the GPSpoint is outside the polygon.

Referring now to FIG. 6E, the GPS point 110E is on the boundary of thepolygon. In this case the GPS point will be defined as being inside thepolygon. Because the boundary of one polygon is likely to be theboundary of an adjacent polygon, the GPS point 110E may be a member ofmultiple regions when it lays on the boundary lines between the areas ofinterest. This may be confusing for a system. Therefore, if the mobiledevice is within the polygon and is moving toward the boundary,hysteresis buffer zone 116 may be provided around the polygon so thatnot until the vehicle or mobile device leaves the buffer zone 116 wouldthe behavior of the mobile device change.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a method for performing a point inclusiondetection algorithm is illustrated. In step 120, a line is drawn from aGPS point. In step 122, the number of intersections of the line with theclosed polygon is determined. In step 124, if an odd number is countedin step 124, step 126 determines that the system is within the polygonand within the designated marketing area.

Referring back to step 124, if the count is not odd step 128 isexecuted. In step 124, if the count is even, the system is outside thepolygon in step 130. If the count is not even or odd in step 128, step132 is executed in which it is determined whether or not the system ison a boundary. A boundary system is illustrated in FIG. 5E above. If thesystem is on a boundary, the system determines whether it is within apolygon in step 134. After both steps 126 and 130 are executed, thecontroller of the system determines the local signal to receive basedupon the designated marketing area. These channels are displayed on thedisplay of the receiving device.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a plurality of designated marketing areapolygons are illustrated as A, B, and C. At some segment each of thepolygons are adjacent to each other. The points representing eachpolygon may follow any arbitrary rule such as political boundaries,geographic boundaries, or any areas of interest. Various types ofinformation may be transmitted to the mobile device such as vehicle 24to convey the boundaries. In one implementation, the mobile device mayreceive corner points in latitude and longitude. Based upon theboundaries of the polygon, the device may determine in which polygons itis inside and which it is outside. Various actions may be performed bythe mobile device as a result of determining which polygon it is inbased upon coded actions or instructions that use the broadcastedpolygon.

Referring now to FIG. 9, polygon A of FIG. 8 is illustrated in furtherdetail. Each of the corner points represents an intersection of two linesegments of the polygon. In this example, points 151 through 158represent corners of the polygon. Table 160 includes the point, thelongitude and the latitude of each of the corner points. Thus, thepoints representing the polygon may be transmitted in a data structurethat will be received by the receiving device as an object used forcomparison with the GPS location. One example of a C-style structure ofan object is set forth below.

struct geograpffic_polygon {    int unique_id;    int version;    intnumber_of_points;    for (i = 0; i < number_of_points; i++) {       intlongitude_degrees;       int longitude_minutes;       intlongitude_seconds;       int latitude_degrees;       intlatitude_minutes;       int latitude_seconds;    } }

Thus, each geographic polygon may be transmitted as a unique object thatmay be referenced individually. In this manner, a series of geographicpolygons can be transmitted to a mobile device and stored in a memorysuch as dynamic random access memory or a non-volatile memory such asflash memory. This memory may then be periodically referenced as themobile device's GPS coordinates change. By comparing the GPS coordinateswith the polygonal boundaries, the receiving device may determine whichpolygon it is in and which polygon it is outside of. Various actions maybe taken in response to the particular polygon, such as the types ofdisplays or assorted messages may be displayed to the user, variousaudio clips may be played, allowing or blocking various channels to bedisplayed on the display device, or tuning to a particular broadcastchannel may be performed in response to the comparison to the polygonalboundaries and the GPS coordinates.

One example of a use of broadcasted polygons is for providing designatedmarketing areas for local channel display or blockage. The satellite orother device may broadcast a geographic polygon for each designatedmarketing area because the designated marketing area has a unique ID andversion, updates to a particular polygon representing a designatedmarketing area may be dynamically performed in the future. The mobilereceiver then evaluates its location in reference to which polygon it isin and as a result, various expressions may be activated or deactivated.This may take the form of activating or deactivating various localchannels.

Another example of the use of the present invention is in emergencyweather situations where all mobile receiving devices in a geographicarea may be notified of an impending severe weather situation. This mayalso be used for non-weather situations such as in conveying disasterinformation. In this manner, a complex polygon may be broadcast andvehicles within the polygon may receive the message detailing thespecific weather or other type of alert.

Referring now to FIG. 10, it may be useful to extend areas of interestoutside its allocated boundary such as into a water area not currentlyserved. The following description is provided with respect to adesignated marketing area. However, the examples may extend to all typesof areas of interest described above. A first designated marketing areaDMA 1 and a second designated marketing area DMA 2 are illustratedhaving a broadcast center BC1 and a broadcast center BC2, respectively.In this illustration, DMA 1 and DMA 2 are directly adjacent. They mayalso be separated as well. A shoreline 200 is illustrated along theEastern-most edge of the first designated marketing area DMA 1 and thesecond designated marketing area DMA 2. Thus, the edge of the DMA 1 andDMA 2 are at a water-land boundary. A bridge 202 connects the shoreline200 at different places. The bridge 202 has a mobile receiving device204 (such as in an automobile) thereon. The bridge 202 is over a waterarea 206.

Designated marketing area DMA 1 has a boundary 210A and an extension210B. Boundary line 212A has an extension line 212B and boundary line214A has an extension 214B. As will be described below, various methodsfor using the designated marketing areas in extending the designatedmarketing areas beyond a land-water boundary are described below. Ofcourse, those skilled in the art will recognize that more than just aland-water based boundary may be used. That is, a land-based boundary ofa DMA or areas of interest may also incorporate the teachings of thepresent invention.

Referring now to FIG. 11, one method for extending the area of interestinto an area not served by an area of interest or a designated marketingarea includes maintaining the programming permissions associated withthe last designated marketing area in which the mobile receiving devicewas present.

In step 250, the location of the mobile receiving device is determined.In step 252, the area of interest is determined. In step 254, if thereceiving device is inside the area of interest, step 256 allows thedevice to receive or utilize signals based upon the area of interest.

Referring back to step 254, if the receiving device is not within anarea of interest, then step 258 is performed. In step 258, signals arecontinued to be received or utilized based upon the last area ofinterest in which the receiving device was present. For example, in FIG.10, the mobile receiving device is on a bridge 202 traveling fromdesignated marketing area DMA 2 to designated marketing area DMA 1 asindicated by the arrow. Because the receiving device 204 is not withineither designated marketing area, the last designated marketing area,DMA 2, is used until the vehicle crosses into designated marketing areaDMA 1.

Referring now to FIG. 12, another method for retaining local programmingrights is set forth. In this example, the area of interest may beextended in step 280. The mobile receiving device may calculateextensions of various area of interest boundary lines such as those setforth with the B-designators associated with the designated marketingareas in FIG. 10. That is, extensions are illustrated as elements 210B,212B, and 214B. Thus, the designated marketing area extends beyond theshoreline into the water-based area 206. As is illustrated, theextensions extend existing lines of the designated marketing area intothe water-based area 206. The extensions may not be continuous portionsof lines, but rather extend in a particular direction such as, on theEast coast of the United States straight East, whereas on the Westcoast, extensions may be performed straight West. Of course, arbitrarilychosen directions may be used.

In step 282, extensions of the area of interest may also be broadcastrather than calculated. The areas of interest may be broadcast byvarious devices terrestrially or extra-terrestrially as described aboveand received by the mobile receiving device stored therein.

In step 284, the proper area of interest is determined based upon thecalculations or the broadcast received from the system. In step 286, thereceiver device receives or utilizes the signals based upon the area ofinterest. The receiver device may, thus, receive the proper localsignals.

Referring now to FIG. 13, an alternative continuation of FIG. 11 is setforth. Although a DMA is set forth, this example may be used for an areaof interest. Rather than performing step 258 in FIG. 11, steps 300through 302 may be performed. That is, after step 254 and determiningsystem is not inside a designated marketing area, distances may bedetermined to the various adjacent designated marketing areas in step300. The distance may be to the edge or boundary of the designatedmarketing area or the distance to one of the broadcast centers BC 1 andBC 2 as illustrated in FIG. 10. The U.S. Federal Government (FCC)maintains a list of the broadcast center locations for designatedmarketing areas. In step 300, the distances X1 and X2 are determined.The shortest distance, X1 or X2, is chosen. In step 304, the receiverdevice utilizes signals from the DMA to the shortest distance. Asmentioned above, the shortest distance may be to a DMA characteristicsuch as the broadcast center BC 1 or BC 2 or to the nearest boundaryline. Thus, based on the shortest distance to the desired designatedmarketing area characteristic, the proper designated marketing area maybe determined and the receiving device can receive local programmingbased thereon.

Referring back to FIG. 10, as mentioned in the background of theinvention, knowing whether or not the vehicle or device is approaching aboundary may be useful. In certain circumstances, a particular locationmay be chosen such as a fishing spot or a camping spot. A smalldifference may mean the mobile device is in one area of interest oranother area of interest. One particular example of relevance is that incertain markets, certain sporting events are blacked out. Therefore,staying in one position or moving to another position may allow thereception of a particular broadcast with a particular team and anothernearby position may mean the blackout of the particular broadcast. Toimprove the knowledge of the mobile users, a warning may be providedwhen a boundary of a marketing area is being approached.

In FIG. 10, the designated marketing area DMA 1 has a boundary 210A andan extension boundary 210B. Designated marketing area DMA 2 has boundary214A and an extension boundary 214B. As will be described below, manyways of determining approaching a boundary may be used. A boundary zone400 may be defined adjacent to the boundary 210A. An extended boundaryzone 402 adjacent to the extended boundary 210B is also illustrated.When a device enters the boundary zone 400 or extended boundary zone402, a warning message may be generated on the display. Also, an audiblewarning signal may also be provided. The boundary zone 400 and extendedboundary zone 402 are defined respectively by boundary zone line 404 and406, respectively. Boundary zone line 404 is adjacent to and spacedapart from boundary line 210A while boundary zone line 406 is spacedapart and adjacent to boundary line extension 210B. The amount ofspacing defining the boundary zone may vary depending on variousconditions including system design parameters.

Designated marketing area DMA 2 includes a boundary zone 410 and anextended boundary zone 412 that are defined by a boundary zone line 414and an extended boundary zone line 416, respectively.

Referring now to FIG. 14, a display 54 associated with the video deviceis shown in further detail. The display 54 may be used for displayingvarious video signals, including programs, movies, or the like in space450. A temporary on-screen display 452 may generate a warning that alocal boundary is being reached. In FIG. 14, the wording “reaching localboundary in one mile” is illustrated. The warning distance of one milemay change depending on the desired requirements of the system. Also, aspeaker 452 may be used together with or instead of an on-screendisplay. The speaker 452 may generate an audible warning signaling theapproaching boundary.

Other on-screen displays may include “end of service coverage”, “end ofWashington, D.C. local area will be reached in X miles” wherein theparticular location of a device is substituted in for Washington, D.C.and the number of miles may be changed as the boundary is approached.Another alternative message may display “next local broadcast area isBaltimore.” This provides the mobile device user information as to thenext local area. Another on-screen display may state “current programunavailable in next local broadcast area”. That is, an on-screen displaymay be generated to notify the mobile device user that the currentprogram is not available or blacked out in the next local market.Another on-screen display may include “current program available in nextlocal broadcast area”. This message informs the mobile device user thatthe program is available in the next market. Various numbers of messagesmay also be provided. For example, it may be desirable to know both thedistance to the boundary and that the next local broadcast area does notinclude or does include the current program. The on-screen display maytake the form of the on-screen display region 452 or may take thevarious forms including various top banners, side banners or full-screenbanners. The banner may flash, scroll, or may take various other forms.

Referring now to FIG. 15, a land mass 500 is illustrated relative to asatellite beam 502. The beam may be a spot beam or wide area beam. Whensignals are broadcast, various beams may be used by the satellite. Asmentioned above, the designated marketing area of a particular regionmay be extended into a water area 504. One limit on the designatedmarketing area is the extent of the reach of the satellite beam 502. Thedesignated marketing area may be extended to the outer extent of thebeam 502. Therefore, a boundary zone 506 may be determined at the edgeof a satellite beam 502. The edge of the satellite beam may, forexample, correspond to designated marketing area 12 or designatedmarketing area 13. A boundary zone 508 may be determined for thedesignated marketing area 13. Thus, when the boundary zone 506 or 508 isentered, a warning may be displayed on the mobile device.

The designated marketing area may also be extended a certain distanceand the edge of the beam may be used for determining the end of themarketing area. Rather than determining a distance or a boundary zone,the signal strength of the satellite signal may be used. When the signalstrength drops below a pre-determined threshold, a warning may begenerated to signal the end of the available signal from the satellite.Once the signal becomes weak enough, the signal can no longer bereliably received. At some point, the signal may not be received at all.

Referring now to FIG. 16, a method of operating a satellitecommunication system is illustrated. In step 540, boundary data for thedesignated marketing area is broadcast by one of the types of methodsdescribed above, such as a satellite, terrestrial-based antenna,cellular tower, or stratospheric information. In step 542, the boundarydata is received at the mobile device. The boundary data may correspondto the outer boundary. It should be noted that various coordinates maybe set forth as well as various lines may be stored therein. The outerboundaries may be closed polygons and extensions of polygons into areasjust beyond the designated marketing area or area of interest. Afterstep 542, three choices are set forth. One choice or a combination maybe used depending on the type of system. Step 544 receives border zoneboundary information to delimit the border zone adjacent to the borderline. This is a first method for determining whether or not the mobiledevice is approaching a border line.

In step 546, a distance to the boundary may be determined withoutrespect to a border zone. For example, the border zone may not bebroadcast, but rather calculated. A system level determination may bemade that a warning is generated one-half mile or other distance fromthe boundary line. In this manner, the distance to the boundary line andthe position of the mobile device are used to calculate the distancefrom the boundary. In certain circumstances, a discontinuous coveragearea or edge of a coverage area may be reached.

Step 548 determines the signal strength of the satellite beam. In step550, the location of the mobile receiving device is determined. This maybe determined by GPS using satellites, cellular towers, or the like asmentioned above.

In step 552, the receiver location is determined from the locationsignals in step 550. In step 554, a designated marketing area or area ofinterest is determined based upon the location of the receiverdetermined in step 552. In step 556, it is determined whether a mobiledevice is approaching a boundary based on one or more of the methodsabove. If a mobile device is not approaching a boundary, step 540 isagain repeated. It should be noted that the system may return back tostep 540, 542 or steps 544-548. The system may return to step 540 if newboundary data is available for the designated marketing area or area ofinterest.

If the mobile device is approaching the boundary in step 556, step 558generates a first warning. As mentioned above, the first warning may bean on-screen warning, an audible warning or a combination of both. Forexample, a warning may be provided within a pre-determined distance fromthe boundary or when the mobile device is within the boundary zone. Instep 560, a second warning may be generated. The second warning may begenerated as the device moves within the boundary zone closer to theboundary. A distance may be set forth or the presence or absence of aparticular channel may be conveyed in the warning.

Referring now to FIG. 17, in certain circumstances it may be desirableto provide a warning when the edge of a satellite beam is beingapproached. The beam edge may be considered a boundary and a boundaryzone may be determined. However, in certain circumstances, a boundaryzone or beam edge may not be defined. In these circumstances, it may bedesirable to rely upon the signal strength of a satellite beam asreceived by the receiving device. This may take into considerationweather factors which reduce the amount of power received at the mobiledevice. That is, the edge of the beam may vary depending on weatherconditions. In step 600, a signal strength is determined at the mobilereceiving device. In step 602, the signal strength of the receive signalis compared to a threshold. If the signal strength is greater than thethreshold in step 602, step 600 is performed which determines the signalstrength. In step 602, if the signal strength is not below a threshold,step 600 is again performed which determines the signal strength. Instep 602, if the signal strength is below the threshold, step 604generates a boundary warning. It should be noted that the boundarywarning is performed prior to a lack of signal in much the same way as aboundary zone set forth in FIG. 15 is illustrated. The boundary zone inthis manner may be a function of the signal strengths rather than adistance.

As is set forth above, the system advantageously allows a warning to begenerated corresponding to a mobile device approaching a boundary. Theboundary may be determined based upon signal strength or based upondistance to the boundary. By providing a warning, the mobile device maybe positioned in a desirable location so that particular signals orprogramming may be received.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed, numerous variations and alternate embodiments will occur tothose skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the inventionbe limited only in terms of the appended claims.

1. A method of operating a mobile device comprising: determining alocation of the mobile device; determining an area of interest fixed onthe surface of the earth in response to the location, the area ofinterest having a boundary; broadcasting wireless signals havinglocation specific information therein; receiving the wireless signals atthe mobile device; utilizing the wireless signals corresponding to thearea of interest; and generating a warning as the mobile deviceapproaches the boundary.
 2. A method as recited in claim 1 whereingenerating a warning comprises generating an audible warning.
 3. Amethod as recited in claim 1 wherein generating a warning comprisesgenerating a visual warning.
 4. A method as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising prior to generating a warning, determining the mobile deviceis within a boundary zone, and wherein generating comprises generatingthe warning within the boundary zone.
 5. A method as recited in 4wherein determining the device is within a boundary zone comprisesdetermining a distance from a boundary line.
 6. A method as recited in 4wherein determining the device is within a boundary zone comprisesdetermining a signal strength.
 7. A method as recited in 4 whereindetermining the device is within a boundary zone comprises determining aposition coordinate of the mobile device.
 8. A method as recited inclaim 1 further comprising when the mobile device travels outside thearea of interest, determining an extended area of interest having anextended boundary, and wherein generating comprises generating a warningas the mobile device approaches the extended boundary.
 9. A method asrecited in claim 8 further comprising prior to generating a warning,determining the mobile device is within an extended boundary zone, andwherein generating comprises generating the warning within the extendedboundary zone.
 10. A method as recited in 9 wherein determining thedevice is within a boundary zone comprises determining a distance froman extended boundary line.
 11. A method as recited in 9 whereindetermining the device is within a boundary zone comprises determining asignal strength.
 12. A method as recited in 9 wherein determining thedevice is within a boundary zone comprises determining a positioncoordinate of the mobile device.
 13. A method as recited in claim 1wherein the mobile device comprises a mobile phone.
 14. A method asrecited in claim 1 wherein the mobile device comprises a personalelectronic device.
 15. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the mobiledevice comprises a laptop computer.
 16. A method as recited in claim 1wherein determining a location comprises determining the location inresponse to a GPS receiver.
 17. A method as recited in claim 1 whereindetermining a location comprises determining the location in response toa GPS receiver disposed within the mobile receiving device.
 18. A methodas recited in claim 1 wherein determining a location comprisesdetermining the location in response to a cellular phone system.
 19. Amethod as recited in claim 1 wherein the area of interest comprises adesignated marketing area and receiving the wireless signals comprisesreceiving local channels corresponding to the designated marketing area.20. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein receiving comprises receivingwireless signals from a satellite.
 21. A method as recited in claim 1wherein broadcasting comprises broadcasting from a terrestrial source.22. A method as recited in claim 21 wherein the terrestrial sourcecomprises a cell tower.
 23. A method as recited in claim 1 whereinbroadcasting comprises broadcasting from a satellite.
 24. A method asrecited in claim 1 wherein broadcasting comprises broadcasting from astratospheric platform.
 25. A method of operating a mobile devicecomprising: determining a signal strength of a satellite beam; comparingthe signal strength to a threshold; and generating a warning when thesignal strength is below a threshold.
 26. A method as recited in claim25 further comprising determining a location of the mobile device;determining an area of interest fixed on the surface of the earth inresponse to the location, the area of interest; broadcasting wirelesssignals having location specific information therein; receiving thewireless signals at the mobile device; and utilizing the wirelesssignals corresponding to the area of interest.
 27. A mobile devicecoupled to a GPS receiver generating GPS signals comprising: a display;and a controller coupled to the GPS receiver and the display, saidcontroller determining a location of the mobile device, determining adesignated marketing area fixed on the surface of the earth in responseto the location, said designated marketing area comprising a boundary,said controller receiving the wireless signals, displaying the wirelesssignals corresponding to the designated marketing area, and when themobile device approaches the boundary of the designated marketing area,generating a warning.
 28. A system as recited in claim 27 wherein thewarning comprises an audible warning.
 29. A system as recited in claim27 wherein the warning comprises a visual warning.
 30. A system asrecited in claim 27 wherein the controller prior to generating awarning, determining the mobile device is within a boundary zone, andgenerating the warning within the boundary zone.
 31. A system as recitedin 30 wherein the boundary zone comprises a distance from a boundaryline.
 32. A system as recited in 30 wherein boundary zone comprises asignal strength.
 33. A system as recited in 30 wherein boundary zonecomprises a position coordinate of the mobile device.
 34. A system asrecited in claim 27 wherein said controller when the mobile devicetravels outside the area of interest, determines an extended area ofinterest having an extended boundary, and wherein the controllergenerates a warning as the mobile device approaches the extendedboundary.
 35. A system as recited in claim 34 wherein said controllerprior to generating a warning, determines the mobile device is within anextended boundary zone, and generates the warning within the extendedboundary zone.
 36. A system as recited in claim 27 wherein the mobiledevice comprises a mobile phone.
 37. A system as recited in claim 27wherein the mobile device comprises a personal electronic device.
 38. Asystem as recited in claim 27 wherein the mobile device comprises alaptop computer.
 39. A system as recited in claim 27 wherein the area ofinterest comprises a designated marketing area and wherein thecontroller receives the wireless signal comprising local channelscorresponding to the designated marketing area.
 40. A system as recitedin claim 27 wherein the controller receives wireless signals from asatellite.
 41. A system as recited in claim 27 wherein the controllerreceives wireless signals from a terrestrial source.
 42. A method asrecited in claim 27 wherein the controller receives wireless signalsfrom a cell tower.